Fairyless: The Story Behind the Magic

Cinderella

Once upon a time, there was a widower who married a proud and haughty woman as his second wife. She had two daughters, who were equally vain and selfish. By his first wife, he'd had a beautiful young daughter, a girl of unparalleled goodness and sweet temper. The stepmother and her daughters forced the first daughter into servitude, where she was made to work day and night in menial chores. After the girl's chores were done for the day, she would retire to the barren and cold room given to her, and would curl up near the fireplace in an effort to stay warm. She would often arise covered in cinders, giving rise to the mocking nickname "Cinderella". Cinderella bore the abuse patiently and dared not tell her father, since his wife controlled him entirely.

One day, the Prince invited all the young ladies in the land to a ball, planning to choose a wife from amongst them. The two step sisters gleefully planned their wardrobes for the ball, and taunted Cinderella by telling her that maids were not invited to the ball. The sisters departed to the ball, Cinderella cried in despair. Her Fairy Godmother magically appeared and immediately began to transform Cinderella from house servant to the young lady she was by birth, all in the effort to get Cinderella to the ball. She turned a pumpkin into a golden carriage, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, and lizards into footmen. She then turned Cinderella's rags into a beautiful jeweled gown, complete with a delicate pair of glass slippers. The Godmother told her to enjoy the ball, but warned that she had to return before midnight, when the spells would be broken.

At the ball, the entire court was entranced by Cinderella, especially the Prince. At this first ball, Cinderella remembers to leave before midnight. Back home, Cinderella graciously thanked her Godmother. She then greeted the step sisters, who had not recognized her earlier and talked of nothing but the beautiful girl at the ball.

Another ball was held the next evening, and Cinderella again attended with her Godmother's help. The Prince had become even more infatuated, and Cinderella in turn became so enchanted by him she lost track of time and left only at the final stroke of midnight, losing one of her glass slippers on the steps of the palace in her haste. The Prince chased her, but outside the palace, the guards saw only a simple country girl leave. The Prince pocketed the slipper and vows to find and marry the girl to whom it belonged. Meanwhile, Cinderella kept the other slipper, which did not disappear when the spell was broken.

The Prince tried the slipper on all the women in the kingdom. When the Prince arrives at Cinderella's villa, the step sisters tried in vain to win over the prince. Cinderella asked if she might try, while the step sisters taunted her. Naturally, the slipper fitted perfectly, and Cinderella produced the other slipper for good measure. The stepsister both pleaded for forgiveness, and Cinderella agreed to let bygones be bygones.

Cinderella married the Prince, and the step sisters also married two lords. And they all lived happily ever after.

I took a deep breath, striding up to a dark, mahogany door, a tray of tea in one hand, before knocking tentatively. A sharp yelp and a crash, followed by vehement cursing, before an answer. "Come in!" Gulping, I knew that my actions had caused something to break and hurt my stepmother, and that it would cost me a meal - not that I was given decent food, anyway. Pushing the door open with one hand, I cautiously stepped into the large, grand room. The sweeping ceilings covered with paintings of angels and large, crystal-clear bay windows, framed by soft, royal blue colored velvet curtains and antique ebony furniture, engraved with swirls and knolls of every kind into a tasteful design, the plush, blue comforter and silken eggshell bed sheets covering the massive four-poster bed, this room would take anyone's breath away, however I was used to this. And every time I saw this room, with its creamy white walls and gray marble floors, I shuddered with fear. To me, this room was a living nightmare. Why? Because this was the master bedroom. And the only person who slept in the master bedroom, was my stepmother. Otherwise known as Lady Karis.

My rusty-brown shoes (Which were falling apart, by the way) clanked against the clean marble surface of the ground. Quickly scanning to see the damage I indirectly caused, I saw a shattered pot, soil everywhere, a clump of roses, and a few drops of blood. Setting down the tea of tray as quickly and carefully as possible, I whipped out a small first aid kit I always carried with me from my ratty gray apron, pulling out a roll of bandages, a small jar of ointment, and a disinfectant. "Lady Karis, please allow me to dress your wound, then I will clean up this mess." Karis glared at me, pulling her fluffy white bath robe tighter around her body, mauve hair uncombed and messy.

"Cinderella, haven't I told you that you are not to disturb me?!" She hissed as he held out her hand imperiously, almost daring me to tend to her wound (Which was fairly small, mind you, but my stepmother is a drama queen. Trust me.) Biting my lip, I knelt down, gently dabbing at the minuscule injury.

"I am deeply sorry, Lady Karis, however you asked for -" She cut me off with a look filled to the brim with ire, glaring down at me as I applied ointment.

"Did I ask you to speak, you servant girl? No. So do not say anything!" Ever since my father died, my stepmother had been worse than ever. And so were her two children, my step-sister and step-brother. Speaking of which...

The daughter, Apple, screeched as she stomped up the stairs, a dirtied skirt in her hand. "Cinderella, my favorite skirt was torn by that stupid door! Hurry up and fix it!" Tossing her pink hair with irritation, she didn't even bother to wait for my reply before throwing it on the ground in front of the door. The son, Allegro, treated me somewhat better, but... In general, he ignored me. In the past, Allegro and I were good friends, always chatting and laughing together. So why did he change now? As if on cue, Allegro walked past, fixing his glasses, barely glancing at me before continuing on his merry way. Sighing, I raced to get a broom and dustpan from the broom closet down the hall, hurrying back to Karis' room, sweeping up the shards of powdered blue pot and earthy, brown soil. As I finished removing the dustpan, broom, and torn skirt from the bedroom, Karis called out to me.

"Cinderella, as a punishment for making me injure myself, you shall have no dinner tonight." Eyebrow twitching, I turned around and curtsied, a gracious - yet fake, very fake I tell you - smile plastered onto my face. Please let the old hag die soon.

"I understand, Lady Karis. Please enjoy your tea." Closing the door, I mentally went over my checklist of things to do, scanning the spotless mansion. Sighing, I carefully went down the stairs, dustpan in hand, before a glint of metal caught my eye. Quickly looking around to see if either of my step-siblings were watching, I scurried over to the servant's quarters, dumping the skirt and broom in one corner, opening the plain, wooden door that led outside, its rusty hinges squeaking. Cringing, I mentally added oiling the door hinges to my list. Setting the dustpan on the carefully manicured grass, I sifted through the dirt, pulling out the metallic object I had spotted before. Gasping, I dropped it almost instantly. This was...

"It can't be..." Lifting it up, I examined the knife. The sharp, fine blade had rusted slightly over time, but I could still see its silvery sheen, glinting ominously in the sunlight. The handle which was most likely once well-polished and beautiful, was made of a dark wood, small gems embedded in the hilt. My eyes widened as I examined it closer. A horrified gasp escaped my mouth, as I dropped the blade (again), covering my mouth.

Blood.

It spattered the blade, rusting the tip and handle, bathing it in a coat of red, permanently burned into the very existence of the blade. And I knew that this was not a blade used to cut meat, no. My father is the general of the Elrios Army. No, the blade was too elegant, too well-crafted. The way the blood was splattered across it, the way that it was buried in a pot, it all pointed to one thing.

Karis was a murderer.

And I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew who she murdered. Queen Eve, who was killed many years ago, was Karis' best friend. Her death was chalked up as a rogue assassination, but I knew better. Once Queen Eve was dead, most of her things went to Karis, as instructed by her will. The Queen also instructed that Karis would be named a Lady upon her death, and the successor to the throne, should the current King die. However, there was one condition: All of Queen Eve's children must be dead first. Then, and only then, Karis would become the Queen (Since there were no other living members of the Royal Family after the King and his children) until her children were ready to rule.

Every woman, in the darkest places of their heart, wished to be Queen. Karis was no exception. Even the Prince and Princess had their suspicions about Karis, although they were not very vocal about it. My heart sank.

The only thing between Karis and the throne was the Prince and Princess.

The sound of footsteps thumping up the pathway startled me into a panic, flinging the knife into the flower garden, carelessly dumping the soil from the pot that Karis broke - most likely while she was checking on the knife - over top of it. Dusting myself off, I dashed to the mailman, intercepting him before he could reach the door.

"How may I help you, good sir?"

As the man talked to me, delivering an invitation to a ball being held by the Prince, I let myself get caught up in excitement - and in worry. Even though I had examined the blade, I failed to notice a small marking near the hilt, claiming the blade as one owned only by a member of a society of assassins, of cold-blooded murderers. I had gotten caught up in something bigger than I could ever have known. And I would only soon know the consequences of my actions.

Me: I need to stop starting up stories.

Aren: Yes you do.

Ara: So... Who's in this story?

Me: Well, actually, this story is a bit different. You see, this is a collection of classic fairy tales (Nine in total) where I totally remove any sort of 'magic' from them and turn them into much more realistic, often less happy, versions of the same story. Each story arc will be three to four chapters long, depending on how much detail I put in them. None of these stories are linked together, by the way.

Raven: So what does this have to do with not knowing who's the main characters in the story?

Me: I was just getting to that! Anyway, this story will be a slightly more interactive story. The first chapter will always be from first person view, and very vague about who the main characters are. Your job is to guess what the main pairing in the story arc is (i.e. You can guess that the main pairing in the Cinderella story arc ElsxAi, etc.), and the first person to guess correctly gets to choose the main pairing of the next story arc!

Eve: However, those of you who guessed correctly are not allowed to guess again until the following story arc (i.e. You guess the Cinderella story arc pairing correctly and choose the pairing for the next arc. You will have to wait until the pairing of your choice is complete and the story arc after that has begun to guess again)

Me: That's right! Make sure you read the fine details carefully, I've dropped small hints every now and then.

Chung: What happens if no one guesses correctly? And how will the winner know they won?

Me: Well, if no one guesses correctly, it'll be my choice of pairing for the next story arc. The winner will know because I will PM them, and if it's a guest, well... You'll figure out.

Rena: Also, as a side note! For guests, to prevent from anyone looking in the reviews for the next story arc pairing, please put the pairing you want in the next story arc in brackets beside your answer! (i.e. Your guess is Cheve, so beside Cheve you would put your choice pairing, i.e. Reven. The guess should look like this: Cheve (Reven)) Thank you~!

Elsa: You heard the girl! Go ahead and review to put your answers in for a chance to win yourself an entire mini-story with your favorite pairing! (Answers aren't mandatory, though.) ^^

Aisha: Interactive stories, eh? Well, this is an interesting concept. Good luck, Rosa!

Elsword: I'm going to help everyone cheat a bit! This first pairing is one of her strongly preferred pairings, so that pretty much narrows it down to two choices, with all the hints she gave you!

Me: Elsword! Shut up!

Elsword: *Eve slapped*

Me: Ahem. Anyway... *snaps fingers*

Raven: *sighs* Don't forget to R&R...

Chung: Also follow and favorite this! :D

Aren: Please enjoy this semi-interactive story, and submit your answers! You have until she updates again!

Me: Love y'all! Chu~